to anie man and that it is not in the power of anie creature but only of God to moue the hart of maÌ„ to what him listeth And so with this intent he went vnto her without declaring anie thing particularly he desired her that she would doe him a pleasure What pleasure said she forsoouth said he that you would be a meane to your spowse for me that he of his great mercie would pardon me all my synnes Whereunto she made answere with a cheereful countenance as casting no doubt at all of the effecte that she would doe it Then said he againe Daughter I thanke you for this But yet thus much I must tell you more That vnlesse you procure me some good assurance of the same you doe me no pleasure at all What assurance would you require said she I would require said he that I might haue a full Pardon and a Bull drawen vpon the same after the maner of the court of Rome With that she smiled sweetly and asked him what maner of Bull he would haue The Bull said he that I desire is that I maie feele in my selfe a certaine deepe and perfecte Contrition of my synnes beyond the common course At that word she gaue him such a coÌ„fortable looke that it seemed to him that she had entred into all the secrets of his hart Well said she such a Bull shall you haue also And so they parted for the daie was almost spent The next mornyng doctour Raimundus was taken after his customable maner with certaine infirmities which were notwithstanding verie grieuous and as then so paineful vnto him that he was inforced to keepe his bed There was at that tyme about him brother Nicolas of Pisa a verie religious man and one that he loued deerely The place where he laie was a Monasterie of Nunnes of S. Dominickes order not farre from the lodging of this holie maid who saw right well in spirite in what case doctour Raimundus was and said to her companion Come let vs goe to visite our father doctour Raimundus for he is sicke what will you doe said she ye are in worse case then he But she foorthwith set her selfe in the waie with her companion and making more hast then she was wont to doe at other tymes came vpon him sodainly â—â— lying in his bed and said Father how is it with you Which was to him so vnlooked for that he had no tyme to talke with his brother and to take order for thinges as he would haue done if he had knowen of her comyng And scantly could he answere her and saie that he was sorie that she should take such paines in comyng to him being her selfe in farre weaker state then he was but that she was entred without anie further circumstances into an high discourse as her maner was of heauenlie matters of God and of his benefites bestowed vpon his creatures and contrariwise of our vngratefulnes towardes him and pronenesse to offend such a good and bowntiful Lord. Which wordes were spoken with such grace that he felt that his hart was strangely drawen by the vertu of the same and that it receiued great comfort And so for maners sake he caused him selfe to be taken out of the bed were he laie and to be set on an other lower cowch neerer to her Who went on with her discourse he neuer thought of his petition made vnto her ouer night coÌ„cernyng the Bull but was caried awaie with the efficacie strength of her wordes which pearsed his hart like sharpe dartes Whereupon his mynd being thus forcibly driuen and entring at the length into a certaine deepe and inward coÌ„sideration of his synnes such as he neuer had in his life before there was represented vnto him iâ— a most cleere vision the iudgement seat of Christ before whom being arrained accused and acknowledging him selfe gyltie he heard a sentence of euerlasting damnation pronounced against him selfe which he confessed he had deserued by the order of Gods iustice This senteÌ„ce he heard openly read and he sawe withal a preparatioÌ„ made for his execution in such order maner as is wont to be when malefactours or theeues are condemned to the gallowes At the length when this dreadful and horrible vision had continued a good space our Sauiour appeered againe vnto him not like a terrible Iudge but like a pitiful Father wheras he was naked he clad him with his owne garmentes lead him into his howse gaue him to eate and drincke plentifully made verie much of him accepted him into his familie as one of his howsehold seruantes and changed the sentence of euerlasting death into a firme promise of euerlasting life The which when he sawe and considered inwardly with him selfe first the deformitie of his sinnes and danger that he was in and then the merciful goodnes of our Sauiour that receiued him againe so louingly he burst out into groanyng sobbing sighing and weeping so aboundantly that in all his life tyme there neuer happened the like vnto him The holie maid that was by all this while sawe how the medicine wrought began then to hold her peace and to let him alone for a good tyme that he might haue his fill of weeping CoÌ„trition And when she sawe her tyme she spake to him againe and said Father I praie you geue ouer this maner of reading and coÌ„sider well of the tenour of the Bull. The Bull said he And with that turnyng him selfe towardes her he said Ah daughter maie this be the Bull that I required of you yester euenyng This is it good Father said she Wherefore be yee myndful of the benefites of God That said she tooke her leaue foorthwith went her waie Doctour Raimundus her ghostlie Father declared yet an other verie euident signe of her great holines and familiaritie with almightie God which was this Being on a tyme verie sicke and feeble she laid her downe as her maner was vpon her boordes Where hauing diuerse and sundrie reuelations she caused her ghostie Father to be sent for that she might impart the same to him So soone as he was come she began after her accustomable maner to speak of God to recite vnto him many thinges namely those thinges that our Lord had vowchsafed to shewe vnto her at shrofte whereof we spake a litle before When he heard the thinges that she reported and considered of the greatnes of the same in comparison of that he had read of other Sainctes he said thus in his mynd Is it possible that all this should be true that she saieth And with that looking stedfastly vpon her he sawe her face sodainly transfourmed into the face of a man who likewise set his eyes stedfastly vpon him and gaue him a meruelous dreadful looke The face that he sawe was somewhat long he shewed like a man of middle age his beard was of the colour of ripe wheat that is betweene red and yallowe his countenance was verie comelie
might be deceiued by the enemie whose crafte in deed is verie suttle yet would I faine learne of them who it was that kept her bodie so long tyme in her natural force and strength If they answere and saie that it was the Deuell then will I aske them againe who that was that preserued her sowle in such spirituall ioye and peace especially at that tyme when she was depriued of all outward delite and comfort This inward comfort and peace is vndoubtedly the fruite of the holie Ghost and maie in no wise be ascribed to the Deuel Last of all to come to them that of a wicked malice slaundered the blessed virgin of hypocrisie and vaine glorie I thinke it not so expedient to shape them an answere as to geue them good counsel I would wish all such to be better aduised what they speake against Gods seruantes and what iudgement they geue concernyng the wonderfull workes of God in his Sainctes For they shal receiue their iudgement for all such rash and slaunderous talke at the later daie before the iudgement seate of God and all this Sainctes How she shewed her selfe meruelous seuere and rigorous towardes her selfe and contrariwise wonderful gentle and meeke towardes them that slaundered her which she did to wynne then to God Chap. 15. WHen anie il disposed persones spake their pleasure of her slaundering and deprauing that vnwonted maner of Absteinence which they sawe in her she would answere then not with anie vehemencie of wordes but only simply and with such a moderation of speech as she thought most meete to qualifie and ouercome such hard hartes for sooth said she it is true that our Lord susteineth my life without bodily food and yet see I no cause whie you should be offended For in truth I would eate with a good will if I could But almightie God hath for my synnes laid this strange infirmitie vpon me that if I eate I am foorthwith in peril of death praie therfore to God for me that he will vouchsafe to forgeue me my synnes which are to me the verie cause of this and all other euels By such sweet wordes she hoped well to haue staied those malicious tonges But when she sawe that she preuailed not of verie pitie that she had of those weake myndes and to take awaie all occasion and coulour of offence she came to the table with others and did enforce her selfe to eate somewhat but in so doing suffred such intolerable paines that as manie as sawe it had great compassion on her For her stomake had vtterly lost the vertu of digestion by reason wherof the meate that she eate either she cast it vp againe and that was oftentymes procured by putting a fether into her throte or otherwise violently or els it remained in her stomake vndigested and there engendred windinnes colikes and other passions which tormented her verie cruelly and neuer ceased vntill she had brought it vp by one meane or other The which thing her ghostlie Father seeing and considering that she suffred all such paines only to stoppe the course of slaunderous tongues for verie inward compassion that he had of her great tormentes he spake comfortably vnto her and willed her on Gods name that she should rather leaue eating then to suffer such paines how soeuer they tooke it and whatsoeuer slaunders they raised vpon her Wherunto she made answere with a smyling countenance saying Father how thinke you Is it not better for me to discharge the debt of my synnes after this maner in this present life then to differre the payment of the same in farre greater paines to the life to come would you that I should flee Gods Iustice or rather to speake more to the purpose that I should not accepte this goodlie occasion that is offred me here to satisfie Gods Iustice with such temporal paines Surely Father I take it for a great grace and benefite of God that he will vouchsafe thus to chastice me here for my synnes and not reserue the same to be punished in the other life To this her ghostlie Father could saie nothing and therfore he held his peace And so by this meane she gaue a great example of high perfection to all men she ouercame the Deuel which had wrought all this trouble against her she stopped the mouthes of diuerse and sundrie malicious persones and prepared for her selfe a double crowne in the life to come On a tyme reasonyng with her ghostlie Father concerning the gyftes and graces of God she vttered a verie notable lesson which was this If man said she knewe how to vse the grace of God he should make his gaine and commoditie of euerie thing that happeneth vnto him in this life And so would I wish that you should doe good Father Whensoeuer anie thing hapeneth vnto you thinke with your selfe and saie thus God geue me his grace to wynne somewhat of this towardes my soules health And then doe your endeuour to gaine such and such vertues as that present matter shall minister occasion and within a litle tyme yee shall become verie ritch How our Sauiour tooke her hart out of her bodie and after a certaine of daies gaue her a newe for it Chap. 16. THe familiaritie that our Lord had with this blessed virgin was so strange the gracious priuileges that he endued her withal so singular that they gaue at that tyme may peraduēture geue now also occasiō of laughter to manie wordlie persones and to such as are in anie degree fallen from that simplicitie that is as the Apostles saieth and ought to be in Christ And yet are not the wonderfull workes of God therfore to be concealed from the vnfaithful but rather to be set out for the behoofe of the godlie well disposed For as almightie God doth from tyme to tyme worke such great wonders in his sainctes so doth he also frō tyme to time prepare some good hartes that wil receiue the same with a simple reuerence true Christian regard On a time while this holy maid was lifting vp her hart to God in praier with great feruour of spirite and saying those wordes of the prophet Dauid O God create in me a cleane hart and renue a right spirite in my bowels she made a special petition to him that he would vouchsafe to take awaie her owne hart and will and geue her an other newe hart and will that were wholly according to his holie will As she was so praying with great humilitie and instance behold our Sauiour Christ appeered to her after a verie comfortable maner and came to her and opened her lefte side sensibly with this hand and tooke out her hart and so going his waie lefte her in deed without a hart Afterwardes being in talke with her ghostlie Father emong other thinges she said to him that she had no hart in her bodie When her Confesseur heard those wordes he laughed at her and began after a sort to rebuke her for so saying
make them to vnderstand that she spake those wordes of a verie inward affection and great feruour of spirite to the end that they should the better beare them awaie and imprint them the deeper in their hartes My deere children said she loue one an other truly and syncerely for by this you shall shewe that you are willing to be my children and by this I shall take my selfe to be your mother If you loue one an other you shall be my crowne and glorie before God and I will acknowledge you before him to be my true children and I wil be a continual intercessour to his diuine Maiestie for you that as he hath voutchsafed to endue my soule abundantly with his grace so he will also powre the like abundance of grace into your soules Last of all she commaunded them after a certaine charitable maner that they should keepe their desires euermore feruent and burnyng and that they should offer vp the same before God for the reformation and good state of the Church of God and of his vicare the Pope affirming of her selfe that she had alwaies kept her hart and desires in such a feruour especially for the space of seuen yeares before that tyme and that she had neuer omitted specially in those seuen yeares to offer vp her hart and desires in such sort before the diuine Maiestie of almightie God And she confessed plainely that for the obteinyng of this grace at Gods hand she had susteined manie grieuous paines and infirmities in her bodie and that she did at that verie present susteine meruelous great and bitter paines for the same cause And she added furthermore that as almightie God had geuen licence to Satan to torment the bodie of Iob so it seemed also that he had graunted him power to torment and vexe her bodie in such sort that from the sole of her foote to the top of her head there was no one part without his peculiar paine tormēt in her And as no part was void of his proper paine so manie partes were tormēted with diuerse sūdrie paines together as it was sensibly perceiued of as manie as stood by her at that tyme saw her in that great agonie After that she had thus ended her sermon or exhortation she spake to them after a more familiar maner and said My right deere and hartely beloued I now see cleerely that my most louing spouse hath so disposed of me that when my bodie hath indured such tormentes and afflictions as his B. goodnes hath graunted me my soule continuing still in these vehemēt fyerie howeful desires shall in that state be deliuered out of this darcke prison so returne againe to his first original begynning Those that stood about her were meruelously astonied to see her patiēce cheerefulnes in all her paines Which they sawe by verie euident tokēs were so great vehemēt that they thought it impossible for her or anie other creature to beare them as she did without shewing so much as anie litle sigue of sorrowe or lamentation but that she was staied by some verie great special grace of God And as they wondered as her patiēce so did they make great sorrowe and wept verie pitifully to see their good mother in such tormentes The which when she perceiued she spake to them againe after a cōfortable maner and said There is no cause my deere children whie you should be sorie to see me in these paines considering that these paines are the meane to bring me to death by death to a better life But you ought rather to reioyce with me to thinke that I shall now leaue this troublesome place of paine and goe to rest in God that cleere calme sea Be of good cōfort for I promise you faithfully that I will stand you in better steed after my passage from hence then euer I did or might doe so long as I was in this darcke life full of miseries True it is that I do put my life my death all in the hāds of my deere and euerlasting spouse If he shall thinke it expedient for anie creature of his that I tarrie here still in labour and paine I am right well cōtēted glad for the honour of his name edifying of my neighbour to suffer if it were possible a hundred deathes and martyrdoms in a daie But if it be his will pleasure that I shall passe at this time and in these tormentes be you well assured that I haue at the length with long and instant sute obteined at his hand a verie special grace which is that it would please him to accept my bodie as a sacrifice and burnt offring for the reformation of his Church After this she called thē vnto her one by one and gaue thē in charge what order of life euerie one should take after her decease Some she appointed to liue in religiō some to be Heremites and some to be secular Priestes Ouer the sisters of Penance she appointed Alexia to be mother And she willed them all to haue recourse to Doctour Raimundus after her death euen as they had had to her in her life tyme and to vse his direction in all matters When she had thus disposed of all thinges particularly by the directiō of the holie Ghost which vndoubtedly spake in her at that tyme as it was euidently seene afterwardes by the goodlie and blessed successe of all such thinges as she tooke special order for in that extremitie she asked them all forgeuenes and said Decrely beloued though I haue ben alwaies verie desirous of your soules health which thing in deed I can not denie yet I know well that I haue failed in manie pointes both because I haue not ben to you such a perfect paterne of spiritual light vertue and good woorkes as a true handmaid and Spouse of Christ might haue ben and also because I haue not ben so diligent and careful about your bodilie necessities as I ought to haue ben Wherefore I most humbly and instantly beseech you all and euerie one of you to pardon me and I exhort you all to hold out in the waie of vertue vntill the end for in so doing as I said you shal be my ioye and crowne before God With that she ceased of her exhortation to them and called for her ghostlie Father and to him made a general Confession of her whole life and so receiued the blessed Sacrament with meruelous great deuotion That done she required the rest of the Sacramentes which were likewise ministred vnto her in due order and tyme Last of all she demaunded a full remission or Indulgence that was graunted her before by two Popes to wite by Pope Gregorie and Pope Vrbanus After that she had thus prepared her selfe she drewe on fast towardes her end and being in a verie paineful and vehement fitte it was well perceiued by her wordes and outward gestures that she susteined a meruelous sharpe dreadful conflicte with the
was depriued of that passing great ioye and felicitie and sent backe againe to this darcke prison of my bodie Thus much I thought good to signifie to you father and to others also for this end that when you vnderstand what a blesful state of life I haue forgon for a tyme God knoweth howe long and that I haue forgon the same by the ordinance of God for the weale and edifyng of soules you should not meruaile hereafter if you see that I beare a great loue to them who haue cost me so deere and that to wynne them to God I do alter the state of my life and conuerse with them more familiarly then I haue done hitherto When doctour Raimundus had heard thus much he gaue a great charge to as manie as were present of the brethren and sisters that they should in no wise vtter anie part of her talke so long as she liued For being a wise man he sawe that wordlie persones such as had not wholly and perfectly subiected all their vnderstandinge to the power of Christe were like to take more harme by it then good And he sawe then presently by experience that some of her owne scholers which had before that tyme heard and folowed her doctrine went backeward bicause they were not able to apprehend the high mysteries that she vttered vnto them But after her death fearing lest he should haue offended God if he had concealed such great workes and wonders he committed all to writing for the benefite of the posteritie For further confirmation wherof I thinke it not amisse to towch briefely a verie notable thing that it pleased our Lord to worke by her while she was so seperated from her bodie At what tyme this holie maid drewe neere to her death to the seemyng of such as were about her there resorted vnto her diuerse and sundrie of her spiritual children to see the maner of her passage and with them manie deuout persones both men and women By whome her Confessour doctour Thomas was also sent for to be present at her departure and to helpe her as the maner is with the praiers and Sacramentes of holie Church Who came speedily and three other of his brethren with him When they sawe that she had geuen vp the Ghost they lamented all for the losse of their deere mother but aboue the rest one of the religious brethren whose name was brother Iohn of Siena sorowed so much and wept so vehemently that he brake a vaine in his brest by reason wherof he coughed and auoided great gobbettes of blood Which was an occasion of double sorowe to as manie as were there for both they lamented the decease of the holie virgin which was alreadie gone and also the peril of that good man who with such paine was not like to continue long after Wherupon doctour Thomas her Cōfessour being inwardly moued with compassion said to that sicke Friar with a great faith and affiance in God Brother Iohn you knowe that this holie maid was of verie great merite and estimation in the sight of almightie God for her vertuous conuersation Wherfore take her hand and put it to the place of your bodie where you feele your selfe aggrieued And I doubt not but that you shal find helpe and comfort He did as he was willed and foorthwith the disease of his brest lefte him and neuer came againe so long as he liued There was present at all these doinges besides these afore named one of her spiritual daughters called Alexa who departed out of this wordle not long after There were also two other of the sisters of penance who came to make the bodie readie for the burial One of them was named Catherine which had bene her companion long tyme in religion the other was her cosen and was called Pisa These spirituall persons with many other gaue testimonie for the truthe of all this matter but aboue all others Friar Ihon did not only testifie it in wordes as other did but also declared the maner of it and affirmed it constantly in all places wheresoeuer he became How she had a meruelous deuotion and longyng after the blessed Sacrament and how she bare manie reproaches and slaunders for the same Chap. 30. THis holy maide had such an earneste longinge after the blessed Sacramente of our Lordes body and blood and receiued the same so often that manie of them that resorted to that Church and saw hir verie often at the Aultar to receiue supposed that she had communicated daylie Which was an occasion of greate trouble both to her and to her Confessor by certaine vndiscreet and ignorant persons who being puffed vp with an opinion of knowledg and withall pretending some colour of pietie said that her often receiuing was not to be liked bicause it would in tyme cause her to haue the blessed Sacrament in lesse reuerence and estimation Which vaine and ignorant supposition her Confessour answered very learnedly alleaging most certaine and infallible groundes first out of the Actes of the Apostles where it is writen by S. Luke that the disciples of Christ and such as were newly turned to the faith by them did continue daily in breaking of bread that is in receiuing of the blessed Sacrament then also out of S. Denyse S. Pauls scholer who declareth likewise in his booke intituled Ecclesiastica Hierarchia that in the primitiue Church the faithful people did vse to communicate euerie daie and last of all out of the holie ghospel where we are taught by our Sauiour him selfe to saie in our dailie praier Geue vs this daie our daily bread Which bread maie in deed signifie our bodilie food and sustenance but not only nor principally for the bread that we ought principally to seeke at Gods hand euerie daie is the bread of our soule or rather to speake truly the bread of our soule and bodie Which is the bodie and blood of our Sauiour Christ really substantially ministred vnto the faithful people in the Church vnder the forme of bread in the holie Sacrament of the aulter But contrariwise for confirmation of their opinion they alleaged to the holie maid a saying of S. Augustine whose wordes are these To communicate daily is a thing which I neither praise nor blame Which fond allegatiton she answered her selfe verie pretily saying If it be so said she that S. Augustine will not blame me wherefore do you blame me As who should saie If S. Augustine who was a great learned man and knewe how to directe his iudgement by the rules of Gods word durst not take vpon him to determine the matter lest he should seeme to set him selfe a iudge ouer other mens consciences how dare you to iudge of my conscience and to blame me for often receiuing considering that the thing being in it selfe indifferent is made either verie good or verie euel according to the disposition of the persone that receiueth verie good and holesome if it be receiued worthely verie euel and pernicious if it
affection towardes the Church of God so did those wicked feendes increase their crueltie towardes her beating and bounsing her daie and night and withal filling her eares with their most horrible cries saying O thou cursed wretch thou hast euer ben against vs. But be thou well assured the tymes is now come that we will be euen with thee Thou hast oftentymes disappointed vs of our purposes And therefore now we will neuer geue thee ouer vntill we haue made a full riddance of thee in such sort that thou shalt neuer be able to hinder vs anie more Thus much the holie maid wrote her selfe in a letter to Doctour Raimundus her ghostlie Father And so she continued in such vexation and tormentes from the sonday of Septuagesima vntill the last sauing one of April on the which daie it pleased our Lord to call her out of this life How the holie maid obteined by praier that she might satisfie the iustice of God for the paines dwe to her father in Purgatorie Chap. 8. WHen Iames this holie maides father sawe that his daughter was wholly geuen to the seruice of God as it hath ben declared in the first part of this booke he cast a verie special loue and affection to her and entreated her in his house with great respecte and reuerence and had this opinion of her that she was able to obteine at Gods hand for him what she would And she likewise bare a verie singular loue and reuerence to her father and commended his health to God in her dailie praiers in most earnest maner It chaunced that her father fell into a verie grieuous sickenes kept his bed The which when she vnderstood she turned her selfe to God in praier after her accustomed maner and besought him that her father might recouer againe But answere was geuen her from God that the end of his daies in this life was come and that it was not expedient for him to liue anie longer With that she went foorthwith to her father to visite him and to examine him how he was disposed in his soule and found him readie and willing to passe out of this wordle whensoeuer it should please God to call him wherof she was verie glad and thanked our Lord with all her hart Then she praied furthermore that seeing our Lord had voutchsafed to call her father out of this life in the state of saluation it might also stand with his holie will and pleasure to make him this graunt that he might passe out of hand to the ioyes of heauen not be staied anie tyme in the paines of Purgatorie Whereunto our Lord made her answere that the order of iustice must needes be obserued which would not beare that anie soule should haue the fruition of those vnspeakeable ioyes vnlesse it were most perfectly purged before And though her father had lead a conuenient good life in his vocation and had done manie good workes also which were verie acceptable in the sight of God of the which one principal worke was the mainteinyng of her in religion yet there remained some rust of earthlie conuersation which of right must be tried out with the fyer of purgatorie When she heard that she made her praier to our Lord after this maner O most mercifull Lord how maie I abide that the soule of my deere father whome thou hast appointed to be the meane to bring me into this wordle by whome I haue ben so carefully prouided for in my tender age at whose hand I haue receiued so manie comfortes and reliefes by whose handie labour and charges I haue ben mainteined thus maine yeares in thy seruice should now be tormented with the paines of Purgatorie I beseech thee O father of mercies and God of all comfort for all the louing kindnes that euer thou hast shewed to mankind that thou wilt not suffer my fathers sowle to depart out of his bodie vntill it be by one meane or other so perfectly tried and purified that it need no further purgation A wonderful thing to consider After the tyme that the holie maid had said those wordes it was euidently seene that her fathers bodie decaied more and more as it did before to wardes death all his powers failing sensibly in such sort that all men sawe by the course of nature it could not continue anie tyme. And yet for so long time as she continued in praier wrestling as it were with almightie God and labouring to incline him in some degree if it were possible from iustice to mercie they might perceiue that his soule was holden in his bodie by some spiritual power and could in no wise depart At the length when she sawe that the iustice of God must needes be satisfied she said thus O most merciful Lord if it cā not otherwise be but that thy iustice must be answered I beseech thee turne thy iustice vpon me whatsoeuer paines thou hast appointed for my father laie the same vpon my bodie I will willingly beare them To that our Lord consented said vnto her Daughter for the loue that thou bearest to me I am content to graunt thee thy petition to transpose the paines due to thy father to laie the same vpon thee which thou shalt beare in thy bodie so long as thou liuest With that she thanked God most hūbly and said O Lord thy iudgemētes are all iust be it done to me as thou hast determined And so she made hast towardes her father who laie in extremes And she cōforted him meruelously with that glad tidinges wēt not frō him vntill he had geuē vp the ghost So soone as her father was departed she felt her selfe foorthwith pained with a grieuous disease in her side called Iliaca passio which neuer wēt frō her so lōg as she liued The which paine she bare not only patiētly but also cheerefully cōceiuīg such an inward ioy of that B. state that she knew her father was in that she litle esteemed the outward paine of her owne bodie In so much that at the tyme of her fathers departure when all other that were present made great lamentation she smiled sweetely and shewing great gladnes in her countenance said these wordes Deere father would God I were as you are Our Lord be blessed How the holie maid by praier brought her mother to life againe and so deliuered her from the paines of hell Chap. 9. AS the holie maid shewed her selfe to be a verie louing and duetiful child towardes her father so did she likewise afterwardes shewe the like loue and charitie towardes her mother as her duetie required Her mother Lapa was verie sicke and her sickenes grewe on her euerie daie more and more in such sort that there were seene in her great tokens of death and small hope of life All the which notwithstanding she was so drowned in the wordle that she might in no wise heare of death and be brought to confourme her will to the will of God When her daughter
frindlie and comfortable looke though he like an vnkind man had thrice refused and denied thee Thou drewest Marie Magdalen to thee with the lines of loue when she had estranged her selfe from thee by her manifold synnes Thou tookest Mathewe the Publicane from a synful trade of life in the wordle to be an Apostle and Euangelist Thou diddest not repell the woman of Cananee nor Zacheus the Prince of Publicans but didest most sweetly accept the one and inuite the other Wherefore I most humbly beseech thee for all thy mercies hitherto shewed vnto man and for all those also that thyne infinite goodnes hath determined to shewe hereafter that thou wilt voutchsafe to looke downe vpon these wretched creatures mollifie their hartes with the fyer of thy holie spirite that they maie be deliuered from the second death Our Lord heard the praier of his Spowse and graunted her such a grace that she went in spirite with those two theeues towardes the place of execution weeping and lamenting for their synnes and mouing them to repentance for the same Which thing the wicked sprites perceiued well inough and therefore they cried out vpon her and said Catherine leaue to trouble vs. If thou wilt not we will surely enter into thee and vexe thee To whom the holie maid made this answere As God will so will I. And therefore I will not cease to doe what lieth in me for the reliefe of these poore wretches because I know it is the will of God that I should so doe And so continuing in praier she procured them a verie singular fauour and grace as the effecte declared For when these theeues were come to the gate of the citie our Sauiour Christ appeered to them shewing to them his precious woundes all streamīg downe with blood inuiting them to become repētant for their former life Which if they did he put them in a sure cōfort that all was quite forgeuen At this strāge sight their hartes were sodainly so altered to the great wōder of as manie as were there presēt that they changed their stile and turned their blasphemie into thākesgeuing praysing God for his great mercies And shewing thēselues to be hartely sorie contrite for their synnes desired earnestly that they might haue a Priest to heare their Cōfessiōs That done they went forward cheerfully towardes the place of executiō where they shewed likewise great tokens of ioy cōfort for that they had to passe by a reproachful death to a glorious life All the people sawe this strange alteratiō were much astonied at it because as thē they vnderstood not the cause thereof which afterwards came to light by this meane The Priest that heard these fellōs Cōfessiōs wēt soone after to visit Doct. Rai the holie maides Cōfessour in talke declared vnto him how wonderfully God had wrought with thē Doct. Rai foorthwith begā to suspect as it was indeed therfore asked Alexia what the holie maid was doīg at that tyme whē the theeues were lead thorough their street towardes the place of executiō She made him answer declared the whole processe of the matter so much as she had seene heard in her owne house Whereby Doctour Raimundus sawe a verie great likelihood that the thing had ben wrought as he deemed before by the praier and intercession of the holie maid Howbeit for the more assurance he tooke an occasion afterwardes to aske the holie maid her selfe And she to the honour of God and for the satisfaction of her ghostlie father declared vnto him particularly how euerie thing had passed Within a fewe daies after this was done certaine of the sisters that chaunced to be present while the holie maid was praying heard her saie these wordes in her praier with a full voice O Lord Iesu I most hartely thanke thee that thou hast deliuered them out of the second prison Of the which wordes being demaunded afterwardes what she meant by them she made answere that the soules of those theeues were as then deliuered out of Purgatorie and restored to Paradyse Such was her charitie towardes them that as she had by praier deliuered them from the euerlasting tormentes of hell so she neuer ceased to praie for them vntill she sawe that they were also passed the temporal paines of Purgatorie and receiued into euerlasting blisse How by the praier of the holie maid an obstinate synner was turned to God Chap. 11. THere was a man dwelling in the citie of Siena called Andrewe Mardine well endued with wordlie substance but bare of heauenlie ritches void of the loue and feare of God a baretter blasphemer and wicked liuer This man about the fortieth yeare of his age was sodainly taken with a verie grieuous sickenes which held him so vehemently that he was faine to keepe his bed where he laie waxed euerie daie weaker weaker vntill at the length he was geuen ouer by the Phisicions and despaired of all men His curate hearing that came to visite him and as his Pastoral charge required exhorted him with manie wordes that he should now in the end of his life dispose him selfe to Confession and penance for his soules health But he was so obstinately bent that he litle esteemed the Priest and lesse his counsel Which thing his wife perceiuing which was a good woman and had a great desire to sawe her husbandes soule ranne to diuerse and sundrie religious persones both men and women besought them that they would come and doe their diligence to turne his hart They came at her instance and vsed manie perswasible meanes to bring him to a better mynd setting before his eyes now the horrible threates of hell fyer and now the sweete peomises of the ioyes of heauen but all in vaine After them came the curate againe with great heauines and care to doe what in him laie towardes the recouerie of this sowle that was thus in danger to perish He exhorted him as he had done before and thereunto added manie goodlie perswasions to induce him to be repentant for his foremer life and to call to God for mercie But the wretched mans hart was so hardened that he might not endure to heare him speake but scorned both him and his holesome exhortations In so much that at the lenght he fell into plaine desperation and synne against the holie Ghost and in that damnable state drewe on a pace towardes his end This matter chanced to come to the knowledge of doctour Thomas who hauing great compassion of the wretched mans case went foorthwith towardes the holie Maides lodging hoping by her mediation to find some grace in the sight of God But when he came thither he found the holie maid rauished from her bodilie senses And so long as she was so he durst not doe anie thing to her bodie wherby to bring her againe and tarrie there anie longer he might not bicause it wae verie late in the euenyng Wherefore he gaue a verie streight charge to one of
my soule vpon the only namyng of this word peace And soone after he said againe O Lord O God what vertue or strength is this that holdeth and draweth me after this sort I haue no power to goe hence I can denie you nothing that you require me O Lord ô Lord what thing maie this be that thus enforceth me And with that he burst out into weeping and said I am quite ouerthrowen I am not able to make anie longer resistance Then sodainly he cast him selfe downe at the holie maides feete and with meruelous great submission and aboundance of teares said these wordes O blessed maid I am readie to doe whatsoeuer you commaund me not only in this matter of peace but also in all other thinges whatsoeuer they be Hitherto I knowe well the deuel hath lead me vp and downe fast tied in his chaine but now I am resolued to folowe you whether soeuer it shall please you to lead me And therefore I praie you for charities sake be you my guide and teach me how I maie deliuer my soule out of his bandes At those wordes the holie maid turned to him and said Brother our Lord be thanked that you are now through his great mercie come to vnderstand in how dangerous a state you stood I spake to you concernyng your soules health and you made light of my wordes I spake to our Lord touching the same matter and he was content to heare me My aduise therefore is that you do penance for your synnes in tyme for feare of some sodaine calamitie that maie fall vpon you which finding you vnprouided maie otherwise beare you downe and quite ouerwhelme you This gentleman was so inwardly striken with these wordes of the holie maid that he went foorthwith to Doctour Raimundus and made a generall Confession of all his synnes with great sorrowe and contrition And so when he had made his peace with almightie God by the aduise of Doctour Raimundus and vertue of the holie Sacrament of penance he was content likewise to submit himselfe to the order of the holie maid and according to her direction and arbitrement to make a firme peace with all his aduersaries Within a fewe daies after this Mannes was thus conuerted it chaunced that he was taken by the gouernour of the citie and cast into a streight prison for certaine outrages that he had committed before And it was commonly talked emong the people that he should be put to death The which when Doctour Raimundus vnderstood he came to the holie maid with a heauie cheere and said Loe mother so long as Mannes serued the deuel so long did all thinges goe prosperously with him But now sence the tyme that he began to serue God we see the wordle is wholly bent against him This sodaine alteration putteth me in great doubt and feare of the man lest being as yet but a yong and tender branch he should be broken of by the violence of this storme and so fall into despaire Wherefore I beseech you hartely good mother commmend his state to God in your praiers And as you haue by your mediation deliuered him from euerlasting death so doe your endeuour also to deliuer him from this temporall and imminent danger To that the holie maid made answere Father said she whie take you this matter so heauily Me thinketh you should rather be glad of it for by this you maie conceiue a verie sure hope that our Lord hath pardoned him all his synnes and changed those euerlasting paines that were due to him for the same into these temporall afflictions When he was of the wordle the wordle made much of him as one that was his owne But nowe sence he began to spoorne at the wordle no meruaile if the wordle do likewise kicke at him againe As for the feare that you haue lest he being ouerlaied with these calamities should fall into despaire be of good comfort and assure your selfe that the mercifull goodnes of our Lord that hath deliuered him out of the deepe dongeon of hell will not suffer him to perish in prison And as she said so it prooued in deed For within a fewe daies after he was deliuered out of prison His life was in deed spared but for that they set a great fyne of money on his head Whereof the holie maid was nothing sorie but rather glad for said she our Lord hath mercifully taken awaie from him tha poison with the which he had before and might agine haue poisoned him selfe So soone as this Mannes was thus deliuered he like a gratefull gentleman ascribing the benefite both of his foremer recouerie out of synne and also of this his deliuerie out of prison to the merites and praier of the holie maid made a deed of gyfte to her of a goodlie palace that he had four myles from the citie Of the which by licence of Pope Grogorie the eleuenth she made a monasterie for her spirituall daughters the sisters of penance and dedicated it to our blessed Ladie and in the honour of her named the place Our Lord of Angels And he after this happie conuersion was wholly directed by doctour Raimundus and lead a verie blessed life What a wonderfull grace the holie maid had in making exhortations and conuerting soules to God Chap. 14. EMong a nomber of strange gyftes that were in this holie maid one was a meruelous singular grace that she had in drawing the hartes of men vnto God not only with the wordes that she spake vnto them but also with her onlie presence And in this she so much passed all that we read or heare reported of other great Sainctes that it might seeme incredible but that it pleased almightie God to make it knowen to the wordle by diuerse and sundrie effectes wrought in such sort that they could not be couered Manie tymes as she was passing from place to place the people came out from all sides by hundreds and thousandes to see her of the which great nombers were wonne to God by her godlie exhortations and went foorthwith to be confessed of their synnes with great sorrowe and contrition Of the which thing when Pope Gregorie the eleuenth was enformed by the report of credible persones to further her charitable trauaile in winnyng of sowles to God he made her a speciall graunt by his bull or letter patent that she might haue alwaies three learned confessours about her vnto whome he gaue authoritie to absolue from all kindes of synne in as ample maner as anie bishop hath within his diocese And those three confessors were so thoroughly occupied by reason of the great multitudes that were turned to God by her meanes that Doctur Raimundus who was one of the three and euermore assistant to her reported both of him selfe and of the other two also that manie tymes they sate in confession from morning to night without anie bodilie recreation or refection yea and sometymes when night came had scantly so much leisure as to receiue a litle sustenance
super terram Come and see the vvorkes of our Lorde vvhat vvonders he hath put vpon the earth For as Sampson being demanded vvherein his great force and strenght consisted confessed it to lye hid in most vveake haires so truly vve may rightly cōfesse say the like that God hath hidden in a most vveake sex most vvorthie valor victorie and inuincible courage You may vvell be confident in the goodnes of him who neuer permiteth any to be tempted aboue their abilitie For our Lord dealeth with the iust as he which casteth a pretious glasse vp on highe and suffereth it to fall vntill it come neere the ground and then catcheth it and saueth it that it be not broken meaning thereby not to breake the glasse but to shew his art that he knoweth how to saue it euen when to others it seemeth to be vtterly lost Wherfore good Madam nether let your longe afflictions seeme tedious vnto you nor account that lost which you haue left for Christ If we cast water about the roote of a fruitfull tree we doe not thinke that water lost because we expect great aboundance of fruite euen so that which we forgoe for the loue of Christ is not lost for we shall gather of that tree the fruite of eternall life Rather reioyce herein that by this your patience and sufferance you preserue your soule in the grace and fauour of almightie God Which such as this world would be if the sunne were taken from it such is a soule when it is depriued of the light of grace Againe reioyce for that you are made herein a true imitator and follower of Christ who as S. Augustine saith did him selfe contemne all earthly goods to shew that they ought to be contemned and likevvise suffered in him selfe all earthly euills vvhich he commandeth vs to suffer that nether in the one should be thought felicitie nether in the other should be feared infelicitie Againe reioyce for that there is laid vp for you a copious revvard in the kingdome of heauen For if to him that had employed his fiue talents and made them ten so great a recompence vvas assured vvhat a vvonderfull recompence shall you receiue for more then ten hundred poundes a yeare vvhich you haue forsaken for the loue of Christ Hovv shall not our Sauiour say vnto you Well done good and faithfull seruant because thou hast bene faithfull in litle I will set thee ouer much enter into thy Masters ioy Againe reioyce for that you haue so vvisely defeated the diuell and and escaped and auoided his craftie snares whose sutteltie and meaning was by disposessing you of yours to haue posessed him selfe of you For the Diuell when he depriueth vs of our worldly substance doth it not for the loue thereof for that such thinges are not so pretious to him it is our soule that he would gayne all the rest he nothing regardeth For so he tooke from Iob his substance his children and the health of his bodie but chiefly intended to destroy his soule Now therfore for as much as it is perseuerance which bringeth euery vertu to his perfection you must euer be furnished with perfect Fortitude the only vertu of all others insuperable for all the world can not ouercome one man in whom is true Fortitude And as Seneca saith It is more easie to ouercome one whole nation then one such man For what can all the enimies and persecutors in the world doe when they haue done the vtmost of their malice but that which euery litle ague or any other litle disease can doe vnto you as well as they Yea if al men and diuells should bend their forces against one man alone what greater hurt or euil can they woorke him then to deliuer him out of this vale of miserie and to send him the sooner into the cuntrie of heauen and company and societie of the blessed Saintes Wherfore if besides all the troubles you haue all readie sustained for the loue of Christ you should further be threatned vvith a thousand euils arme your selfe to surmount them all with this only ansvvere recounted by Cassian in his Collations Who telleth that an Infidell outraging vpon a day an holie Hermite asked him Quaenam miracula prodigia tuus Christus in mundo edidit What miracles and vvonders hath thy Christ done in the vvorld To vvhom the good Hermite made ansvvere saying Vt his ac maioribus iniurijs non mouear nec offendar minis That I be not moued vvith these and vvith greater iniuries nor am feard vvith threatninges Yf yet further you should be threatned vvith a thousand deathes ansvvere as Seneca ansvvered the like obiections vvhich he made to him selfe saying Thou shalt dye One this condicion quoth he to goe from hence I came hither Thou shalt dye It is the lavv of all nations to restore againe vvhat one hath borrovved Thou shalt dye It vvere foolishnes to feare vvhat can not be eschued Thou shalt dye I am not the first nor shall not be the last All haue gone before me and all shall follovve after me Finally let not I beseeche you the exāple of such as flinch or goe back in the time of affliction be any offence or trouble to you True it is that it is a great scandall vnto the vveake and a great discomfort griefe to the seruants of Christ But Madam remember that of such it is said that they departed because they loued more the glorie of the vvorld then the glorie of Christ They be of those vvho vvere present and follovved Christ vvhen he entred into Hierusalem in glorie and triumphe but forsooke and left him at the time of his passion Men that vvould haue a Iesus of silke and veluet Svvallovves vvho are present at the beging of summer but depart in vvinter But you vvoorthie Ladie haue begunne a glorious combat for the loue of Christ you haue honorably entred the same you haue patiently pursued you haue victoriously sustained Prospere procede regna perseuer that you may be crovvned Shevv your selfe to be that happie mother of the Machabes vvho by hir vertuous and constant example exhorted hir children to endure all torments yea death it selfe rather then to violate the lavv of their God Which constancy blessed perseuerance vvoorthie Madam I chiefly vvishe vnto your selfe and next to your selfe vnto your Sonne and heire and to those good gentlevvomen your daughters vvhich haue remained vvith you in your tribulations And for the rest of all yours vvhich are seperated from you from the verie bottom of my hart I humbly pray for their conuersion Good Madam so iudge of the hart vvher vvith this vvorke is consecrated and dedicated vnto you as if it had bene in his povver the selfe same hart vvould as gladly haue presented you a vvedge of gould With the vvhich as you might haue bene more enriched so are you by this more honored by hovv much the praise of vertu is to be preferred before all the treasure and
to eate her meate and not to geue anie credit to such deceueable visioÌ„s Wherunto she made answere and said that she found by experience that she was more healthie in bodie when she receiued no bodilie sustenance at all then she was when she did eate The ghostlie Father was nothing moued with that talke but taking all to be but only excuses he commaunded her precisely that she should eate Then she to shewe her selfe a true daughter of obedience did as she was commaunded and began to eate her meate vntill by eating she became so weake and wasted that she was at the verie point of death without anie hope of recouerie vnlesse she returned againe to her former Abstinence Wherupon she sent for her ghostlie Father and said vnto him Father said she I praie you tell me one thing in case I should by ouer much fasting kill my selfe should I not be gyltie of myne owne death yes said he Againe said she I beseech you resolue me in this Whether do you take it to be a greater synne to die by ouermuch eating or by ouermuch Abstinence By ouermuch eating said he Then sir said she seeing it is so that you see by experience that I am verie weake and euen at deathes doore by reason of my eating Whie doe you not forbid me to eate as you would forbid me to fast in the like case To that reason he could make none answere and therfore seeing by verie euident to kens that she was neere the point of death he made her this final resolution saying Daughter doe as God shall put in your mynd folowe the guydance of his holie spirite praie for me For I see the thinges that our Lord worketh in you are verie strange and not to be measured by the common rule How her strange maner of life was gaine-said and slawndered and how such gaine-sayinges and slawnders maie easily be answered Chap. 14. THis strange and vnwonted maner of life as it was to some of the better sort an occasion of praysing God in his wonderful workes so did it minister to manie vngodlie and ill disposed persones mater of slaunder and offence Some said that she made her selfe better then our blessed Ladie the Apostles yea better then our Sauiour Christ him selfe who as the holie scripture recordeth did eate and drincke Some other alleaged the rules of spiritual life which doe precisely forbid anie Religious persone to folowe anie singular maner of life Some other reasoned and said that vertue consisted in the meane and that all extremitie was to be suspected of vice Some said that she was beguyled by the Deuel some other said in plaine termes that she was an hypocrite and perswaded them selues that she did fast openly to bleere the eyes of the worlde but that she had good morsels in corners which the worlde knew not of Thus did euerie bodie thinke and report of her as it is wont to happen in such cases not as they found her better or worse but as they found them selues better or worse disposed But to make answere to these vaine surmises and false reportes briefely it is to be knowen that all men especially Religious and spiritual persones if they haue not vtterly ouerthrowen or done their best to ouer throwe selfe-loue in them selues but do labour still to gett the vaine estimation of the worlde are in great danger to be ouerthrowen by their owne ambitious mynd and so being blinded with such malice to enuie the gyftes and graces of God in others namely if they be such excellent and singular gyftes as maie seeme in anie degree to make their owne qualities to shewelesse in the opinion of men Such persones are wont commonly to couer their owne malice with the cloke of a certaine zeale which they pretend to haue to the honour of God and edifying of sowles vnder the which couert they will goe about to obscure and slaunder the gyftes of God in their neighbours geuing the worlde to vnderstand that whatsoeuer they see in them all is but the deceite of the Deuel illusions counterfeicting hipocrisie or lacke of discretion But in the end such malice is wont to discouer it selfe as this against the holie virgin doth especially if it be examined and tried by the rules of holie Scriptures and examples of other Sainctes of whom we are well assured that they were in the like case directed by the spirite of God To them therefore that saie that she preferred her selfe before our blessed Ladie the Apostles and Christ him selfe in that she obserued such a streight kind of fast as we read not the like of them it may be answered that our Sauiour Christ did as it is writen both eate and drincke contrariwise S. Iohn Baptist as our Sauiour him selfe witnesseth did neither eate nor drincke and yet will no man preferre S. Iohn before our Sauiour in regard of his singular Abstinence The like maie be said of manie of the auncient Fathers as S. Antoine Maâ—arius Hilarion Serapion and others who likewise kept a streighter fast then we reade of the Apostles and yet doth no man preferre them before the Apostles If they will adde furthermore and saie that this holie maides case is not altogether like to those auncient Fathers forsomuch as though they liued a meruelous streight kind of life and fasted farre aboue the common course of men yet did they eate somewhat and fasted not simply from all maner of bodilie sustenance to that it maie be answered that she had euen for that point the example of Marie Magdalen who liued in a rocke of the sea for the space of thirtie yeares together and neuer eate nor drancke in all that tyme. And yet was she neuer thought to be better then our blessed Ladie which did both eate and drincke To them that alleage the rules of spiritual life which doe expressely forbid all singularitie it maie easily be answered that no man ought to take such order of life vpon him selfe without a verie good and assured warrant from God but if he be commaunded by God to take anie such singular maner of life vpon him he maie not refuse it in respecte of the singularitie for that were to refuse the gyfte and grace of God The like answere maie be made to them also that reason and saie that all extremities are to be eschewed and only the meane to be embraced For it is a most certaine ground that whatsoeuer almightie God willeth can not be taken for an extremitie forsomuch as his will is to vs a most true and infallible rule by the which rule he measureth to euerie one accordingly as he seeth most expedient And manie tymes what we imagin to be to one man a great extremitie that knoweth he to be to an other man the verie iust meane wherin consisteth vertue As for those that said that she was deceiued by the Deuel there needeth none answere to be geuen forsomuch as the thing it selfe answereth them sufficiently For admit that she
restitution both of the one and the other to wite both of the honour of God and also of the saluation of man was appointed by God to be wrought by the meane of his Crosse therfore he had euermore a meruelous great desir to come vnto it which desire was vndoubtely a verie cordial and continual Crosse vnto him and neuer ended vntill the tyme came that his bodie was in deed stretched out and nailed vpon the tree of the Crosse She reasoned yet further concerning that Crosse of desire and said thus No man liuing is able to make a iust estimate of the paines and tormentes that our Sauiour suffred in his hart by reason of the desire that he had to paie the debt of mankind to deliuer them from the sentence of death and to bring them againe into the fauour of God They only that loue God with all their hart with all their sowle with all their strength and their neighbour as them selues maie ghesse in some degree what his paine was Such good men maie iudge in part by the loue that they haue thē selues to the honour of God and saluation of man and by the griefe that they feele in them selues when the thing that they loue is either taken awaie or long delaied what his griefe was They maie iudge I saie in part not perfectly forsomuch as the loue that man hath or can haue to the honour of God and saluation of man be it neuer so great is nothging in comparison of that passing great loue that was in the hart of our Sauiour Christ And therfore the desire that he had to recouer both the one and the other must needes cawse in him a greater sorrowe without all comparison then euer was or could be in man vntill he sawe an effectual and perfecte restitution made to God of his honour and reuerence to man of his former state of grace in this presente life and of glorie in the life to come And thus much he signified to his disciples when he said those wordes I haue had an earnest desire to eate this passeouer with you and afterwardes likewise when in his praier to God the father he said Father take awaie this cup from me Which is as if he had said in plaine wordes Father I see here prepared for me a verie bitter cup of most sharpe tormentes and death which I haue droncke continually in desire euen from the hower of my conception but now do begynne to drincke the same in deed and so to make an end of drincking this paineful potion of the Crosse which I desire thee to hasten and bring to an end For that being once passed and gone I shall reape the frute of my long and earnest desire to witte I shall haue fulfilled myne obedience in all pointes to thee restitution shal be made perfectly to God of his due honour to man of his foremer state And I desire not to haue this cup of my passion taken awaie which thou hast here made readie for me which I take at thy fatherly hand like an obedient sonne and drincke it willingly but I desire to haue that cup taken awaie from me and ended which I haue droncke with such an earnest and greedie desire so manie yeares for the loue that I beare to thyne honour and to the saluation of mankind This was the exposition that she made vpon this place of the gospel against the which bicause it seemed straung and singular her ghostlie Father doctour Raimundus reasoned after this maner Mother said he you knowe that the holie Fathers do commonly geue an other interpretation to this place almost contrarie to this that you haue said They saie that our Lord desired in deed rather not to drincke that cup then to drinke it meanyng therby to declare to vs that he was true man and that as true man his flesh did naturally abhorre death as the flesh of euerie man doth And by this he would geue a doctrine and withall an example in him selfe to all weake and fraile men that they should not be dismaied though they felt in them selues that they did feare death Forsomuch as the like feare frailtie was seene in our head also who tooke vpon him all our infirmities onlie synne excepted To this the holie maid made answere thus Father said she I knowe right well that the holie doctours do expound this place as you haue said and I find no fault with their exposition And though this interpretation that our Lord hath taught me seeme diuerse or almost contrarie as you thinke to that yet is it verie true and maie well stand with the common exposition of the holie Fathers Father it is certaine that our Sauiour Christ was head not only of the weake and fraile that feare and flee death but also of the strong and mightie that beare it manfully and yeald not to the feare and shrynking of the flesh And therfore he would in this acte and wordes geue a doctrine and example to them both He would tremble and feare and desire that the bitter cup of his passiō might passe awaie to geue an example to the weake that they might likewise feare and flee death without anie offence if they had no commaundement from God to the cōtrarie He would also ouercome that feare and quaking of the flesh by the force of reason and zeale of Gods honour and desire his Father to hasten that cup of his passion and death to geue an example to the strong that they should not yeald to the frailtie of the flesh and shrincke at the terrour of death but folowe the direction of the spirite and offer them selues valiantly to tormentes and to death it selfe when by so doing they might either honour God or edifie their neighbour And I see no cause whie one place of the scripture should not haue manie interpretations forsomuch as the holie scripture as you knowe hath manie senses and meanynges Which the holie Ghost hath so ordained that the holie scripture might serue diuerse and sundrie persones to diuerse and sundrie effectes As we see this present text being diuersely expounded serueth men of diuerse qualitie to verie good purpose The weake for a refuge if they retire and saue them selues the strong for a warrant if they steppe forewardes and offer them selues to euident danger for Gods sake Then if you aske me how these two interpretations maie stand together the one being contrarie to the other for by the one our Sauiour required that the cup of his passion might be hastened by the other that it might passe awaie I answere that I take it for none inconuenience that in that agonie he should haue those two contrarie effectes in him selfe the one according to the flesh whose propertie it is naturally to repine at anie thing that maie hurt the other according to the spirite which looking to the honour of God and saluation of mankind desired earnestly the bitter cup of his death by the drinking wherof he knewe
that goodly light and to returne againe to dwell in his former darke and stinkinge dongeon O good Father I am that wretched creature vpon whom this calamitie is fallen by the ordinance of God for my sinnes How so said he Forsooth saide she the fyre of Gods loue was at that time soe stronge in my harte and the desire which I had to be vnited to him so vehement that though my hart had ben of stone or of yron it must needes haue broken in sonder And therfore I geue you thus much to vnderstand for certaine that my hart was in deed vndone and opened from the vppermost part to the neither only by the violence of that mightie loue which I beleeue was of such force that no creature in this worlde had ben able to abide it in so much that me thinketh I feele yet certaine tokens of that clefte in my hart And so often as it cometh to my mind what a blesful state my soule was in in that meane tyme while it was separated from my bodie I can not but weepe lament for my returne againe to this vale of miserie With that her Confessour praied her that she would make a declaration of the whole matter from the begynnyng Wherunto she made answere and said Father after that I had ben fed and comforted a long tyme with diuerse and sundrie reuelations and visions which it pleased our Lord of his great mercie to shewe vnto me at length for verie pure loue I fell so sicke that I was constreined to keepe my bed Where lying I made my humble petition to our Lord that he would vouchsafe to deliuer me out of this wretched wordle and vnite me perfectly to him selfe Which petitiō as then he would not heare But yet he graunted me thus much that I should suffer in the tyme of myne abode in this life all the paines of his Crosse and passion by the suffring wherof I should both learne the better how passing great his loue was towardes me and also be stirred by the example of his vnspeakeable loue in some degree to loue him againe And so in deed it came to passe that seeing as it were by an euident experience in my selfe how great loue our Sauiour bare to me and how intolerable paines he suffred for my sake I was wholly ouercome with the force of such inestimable kindnes and my hart being not able to beare the strength of so much loue as it had conceiued brake in sunder by reason wherof my soule was also deliuered out of this mortal bodie and had the fruition of his diuine maiesty howbeit but for a litle tyme which was my great griefe Then said doctour Raimundus to her I praie you good mother tell me how long was your soule out of your bodie And what thinges did you see in that tyme With that she fetched a deepe sigh said Faher those that were about my bodie made preparation for my burial said that it was about a fower howers In the which tyme I sawe the diuine essence of almightie God which causeth me now to liue with such discontentation of mynd and misliking of all thinges here in the worlde And had it not ben for the zeale that I haue to the honour of God and edifying of myne euen Christians for whose sakes my sowle was restored againe to the bodie without all doubt I must needes haue dyed for sorrowe And now the greatest comfort that I haue in the worlde is that I knowe and am well assured that the more I suffer in this life the more blessed I shal be in the life to come And therefore all tribulations are to me not vncomfortable and yrckesome but rather comfortable as you see and deliteful I sawe also the paines of the damned in hell and of those likewise that are in purgatorie which were so great that no tongue of man is able to expresse them I assure you Father if wretched synners might see those horrible paines and tormentes they would rather choose to suffer an hundred deathes in this worlde if it were possible then to endure the least paine that is there for the space of one daie But aboue others I sawe that they were specially punished which had broken their faith and promise geuen in matrimonie not keepinge them selues within the honest boundes and yoake of wedlocke but following the inordinate lustes of their flesh and sensualitie Which was so ordained not bicause the breach of weddelocke is the most heinous offence that is there punished for there be manie greater synnes but bicause the offenders in this vice for the most part had neuer had anie remorse of conscience for this offence as they had for the rest of their synnes and also bicause they had commonly fallen more often into this synne then to any other for manie tymes a synne which is in it selfe not so great displeaseth God highly if it be oftentymes committed and no care had of amendement by contrition and penance Now when I had seene all these thinges and had conceiued withal a most certaine hope that for myne owne part I was passed all paines and come to a state of all ioye and gladnes our Lord said vnto me Daughter seest thou not these vnhappie synners and transgressours of my lawes on the one side what ioyes they haue lost and on the other side what paines they haue found for this cause haue I shewed these thinges to thee bicause I will haue thee to returne againe into the worlde to declare to my people their synnes and iniquities and withal the great peril and paine that hangeth ouer them if they will not amend When I heard that I should returne to the worlde againe I was striken with a meruelous great feare and horrour Wherupon our Lord to comfort me againe spake thus sweetly vnto me Daughter there are a great nomber of sowles in the worlde which I will haue to be saued through thy meanes and that is the cause whie I send thee thither againe Wherfore goe thy waie with a good will and be of good cōfort From this tyme foreward my will is that thou shalt change the order of thy life Thou shalt no more keepe within thy cell but goe abrode into the worlde to wynne sowles Thou shalt beare my name before al sortes of men high and lowe clerkes and secular I will bring thee before the bisshops and head prelates in my Church to confownd their pride Be not afraid to conferre with them in high pointes concernyng the saluation of sowles For I will geue thee a wit to conceiue and withal a mouth to speake in such sort that none shal be able to withstand thee While our Lord spake these wordes to me of a sodaine my sowle was restored to the bodie The which when I perceiued for verie sorrowe I wept three daies and three nightes and neuer ceased And yet to this daie I can not possibly absteine from weeping when it cometh to my mynd how I
sawe that being moued with pitie she turned her selfe to God after her accustomed maner in praier and besought him with great instance that he would voutchsafe to prolong her mothers life Our Lord made answere that if she could be brought to dispose her selfe to die at that tyme it would be best for her forsomuch as if she liued longer there were such stormes of troubles and aduersitie towardes her as she should not be able to beare The holie maid hearing that went to her mother and comforted her and vsed manie sweet perswasions with her to induce her to be content seeing it was the will of God to passe out of this wretched state to a more happie and blessed life But the mother geuing but a deaffe eare to this kind of talke charged her daughter earnestly that she should rather praie to God for the continuance of her life for as yet she could in no wise be brought to depart out of the wordle Then the holie maid in great anguish and perplexitie of mynd became a mediatrix betweene almightie God and her mother humbly beseeching him on the one side that he would not suffer her mother to depart vntill she were resolued to die willingly for his loue and earnestly exhorting her on the other side that she should yeald her hart fully and wholly to the will of God But she was so fixed on the wordle that she might not abide to heare of death Whereupon our Lord speake to the holie maid after this sort Daughter said he tell thy mother that if she will not consent to die now a tyme shall come when she shal be so afflicted that she shall desire to die and shall not be heard Which saying of our Lord tooke effecte within a litle tyme after and she was in deed so miserably tormented in mynd with the losse of her temporal goods vnto the which she bare a meruelous inordinate loue that she brake out impatiently into certaine wordes as it were of desperation and despite against God saying Is it possible that God hath so inclosed my soule in this crooked bodie that it can find no waie out Haue I sent so manie of my sonnes and daughters kinsfolkes and frindes housband and all out of the wordle before me with great griefe and now am constreined to remaine here alone after them all to see my selfe ouerwhelmed with heauines and miserie And so with this bitternes of hart and murmuring against God she passed out of this life without anie further contrition or repentance for her synnes Her daughter tooke this maner of her departure meruelous heauily and could receiue no coÌ„fort but setting her selfe to praier which she had euermore tried to be a present remedie against all euels she sighed sobbed and wept verie lamentably and powred out the griefe of her hart before God with these wordes O my deere Lord and God are these the promises that thou hast made me that there should no one of my house and familie perish in the handes of the enemie Behold ô Lord my mother is now passed out of this life without repentance for her synnes without confession without the rightes of holie Church O sweet Lord O Father of all comfort I most humbly beseech thee in the bowels of thy tender mercie that thou wilt not reiecte the petition of thy lowlie handmaid at this tyme. See ô Lord I lie here prostrate before thy diuine Maiestie and will not rise out of this place vntill my mother be restored to life againe and I ascertained of her saluation that thy promises maie be verified and my soule comforted While the holie maid was thus praying there were a nomber of women in the chamber some of the houshold and some of the neighbours that came thither at that tyme as the maner is to mourne and to doe such thinges as were to be done about the dead corps Emong these women some there were also that gaue diligent eare to the holie maid heard distinctly what wordes she spake in her praier But they all sawe this and were witnesses of the same that soone after the holie maid had ended her praier the sowle returned to the bodie againe and the woman liued afterwardes a conuenient tyme to repent her of her former offences and so died in the state of grace This storie did the holie maid her selfe declare afterwardes to Doctour Raimundus her ghostlie father How the holie maid obteined of God by praier the conuersion of two theeues that were lead to execution Chap. 10. ON a daie while the holie maid was in the house of one of her sisters called Alexia it chaÌ„ced that two famoê° theeues condemned to death were caried in a cart thorough the streete towardes the place of execution Their sentence was that by the waie as they were caried they should be pinched now in one part of their bodie and now in an other with hote yrons or pincers and so in the end put to death Which paine was so intolerable that they which were before in a desperate state and might by no perswasions be brought to repent them of their manifold and heinous offences committed against God and the wordle blasphemed God all his Sainctes In so much that it seemed that the temporal tormentes that they were now in were but a begynning and waie to these euerlasting tormentes and fyer that they went vnto But our merciful Lord whose prouident goodnes disposeth all thinges sweetly had otherwise determined of them When they were come neere to this house Alexia hearing a great concourse and noyse of people in the streete went to the windowe to see what it might be And seeing the horrible maner of the execution she ranne in againe and said to the holie maid O mother if euer you will see a pitiful sight come now With that the holie maid went to the windowe and looked out and so soone as she had seene the maner of the execution she returned foorthwith to her praiers againe For as she declared afterwardes secretly to Doctour Raimundus she sawe a great multitude of wicked spirites about those fellons which did burne their soules more cruelly within then the tormentours did their bodies without Which lamentable sight moued her to double compassion She had great pitie to see their bodies but much more to seâ— their soules wherefore turning her selfe to our Lord with great feruour of spirite she made her praier to him after this maner Ah deere Lord wherefore dost thou suffer these thy creatures made to thyne owne image and likenes and redeemed with the price of thy most precious blood to be thus lead awaie in triumph by the cruel enemie I know ô Lord confesse that these men are iustly punished according to the measure of their offences So was the theefe also that hong by thee on the Crosse whom notwithstanding thou tookest to mercie saying that he should be with thee that verie daie in Paradyse Thou diddest not refuse Peeter but gauest him a
patience contempte of the wordle and feruour towardes religion The which state of life she tendred so much that he buylded two monasteries of Nonnes and in the later of the two she liued a holie life and died a blessed death where it pleased God to worke manie greate and straunge miracles by her in her life time and many moe after her death Emonge other this was and is one that her bodie continueth still whole and vnputrified euen as it was at the verie hower of her departure When she was newly dead the people in regard of the wonderful signes that she had wrought emong them in her life thought to haue preserued her bodie with baulme But when they came to the bodie they sawe that it was needles forsomuch as there distilled a verie sweet and precious liqour out at the endes of her fingers toes that passed all baulme which was diligently gathered by them and put in a viole in the which it is kept to this daie and at tymes shewed to the people for a perpetual remembrāce of this great miracle The night that she died the yong babes that laie in bed with their fathers and mothers cried out and said Sister Agnes is now departed and she is a Saincte in heauen And the next mornyng a great companie of yong children by the instincte of God gathered them selues together and would admit none into their companie that was not a maid and set them selues in order after the maner of a procession and so went with candels burnyng in their handes to the monasterie where they offred them vp at the bodie of the blessed virgin euen as we are wont to doe at the monumentes of Sainctes These and manie other miracles were wrought by almightie God in the honour of S. Agnes which caused the people of the country to haue her relikes in great price and reuerence How the holie maid in hir life tyme healed manie that were sicke of the plague Chp. 3. ABout the yeare of our Lord 1373. ther was a great plague in the citie of Siena of the which manie men and women of all condicions and ages died verie soone after they were once taken some within one daie some within two and fewe or none passed the third daie which mortalitie caused a great terrour emong the people Doctour Raimundus chaunced to be in the citie at that tyme reader of the diuinitie lesson in his couent who being a charitable man tendring more the health of soules then the preseruation of his owne bodie as his profession and rule required he tooke great paines and went by daie and by night to the houses where he might vnderstand anie to be sicke to visite comfort and counsel them for their soules health And manie tymes when he was weerie of runnyng thus to and fro he vsed to turne a litle aside into an house or hospital called Our ladie of mercie and there to repose him selfe a while partly for rerecreation both of bodie and soule and partly also to speake with Maister Matthewe the rectour of the said house whome he loued entierly for vertues sake and resorted vnto him commonly once in the daie and so did the holie maid also verie often sometymes to conferre with him of spiritual matters and sometymes to aske either his aduise or charitie towardes the reliefe of the poore On a daie doctour Raimundus going to visite the sicke after his accustomed maner and passing by the gate of this house went familiarly to see how Maister Matthewe did with the rest of his family When he was entred he saw the bretheren and clearkes busilie occupied in carying Maister Matthew from the Church towardes his chamber With that he asked him cheerfully how he did But Maister Matthew was so feeble and so farre spent that he could not giue him one word to answere Then he asked them that were about him how that sicknes came to him And they made answere that he had watched that night with one that was sicke of the plague and about midnight tooke the sicknes of him since the which time said they he hath remained as yee see without coloure without strength without spirit When they had brought him to his chamber they laide him downe vopn his bedde VVhere when he had rested a litle while he came to him selfe againe called for doctour Raimundus and made his confession to him as he was wont often times to doe That done doctour Raimundus spake to him comfortablie M. Matthew said he how feele yee your selfe where is your paine My griefe said he is in my flancke and it paineth me so sore that me thinketh my thighe is ready to breake in sunder And I haue withal such a vehement headache that it seemeth as though my head would cleaue in fower partes With that he felt his pulses and fownd in deed that he had a verie sharpe feuer Wherupon he caused them to carrie his vrine to a learned phisicion that was in the citie called maister Sensus and soone after went him selfe to vnderstand his resolution and aduise in the matter When he came the phisicion declared vnto him that he sawe in the water verie euident tokens of an ague pestilential and also of death neere at hand for said he this water sheweth plainely to me certaine bubling or boiling of the blood out of the liuer which is the common disease that reigneth now ouer all the citie Wherefore I am verie sorie for I see we are like to leese a verie deere frend and they of his howse a verie good rectour What said doctour Raimundus is it not possible by your art to deuise some kind of medecine that maie doe him good We will see to morrowe said he whether we can purge that blood with Cassia Fistula but to tell you truely I haue small hope of doing anie good The disease is to farre gone When doctour Raimundus heard those vncomfortable wordes he returned towardes the sicke man againe with a heauie hart In this meane tyme it came to the eares of the holie maid that maister Matthewe was dangerously sicke and of the plague When she heard that she was troubled in spirite as it were against that euel for she knewe him to be a verie vertuous man and therefore loued him verie entierly and forthwith went in great hast towardes his howse And before she came at him she cried out with a lowd voice saying Maister Matthewe rise rise vp maister Matthewe It is no tyme to lie now sluggyng in your bed At that word and at that verie instant the paine in his slancke and headache and the whole disease forsooke him quite and he rose vp as merrie and as sound in all his bodie as if there had neuer ben anie such disease vpon him And when he was readie he honoured the the holie maid and gaue her most humble thankes saying that he knewe now by experience in his owne bodie that the power of God dwelled in her and wrought strange thinges by
suspected that the holie maid should be departed out of this life though she knewe well that she was verie sicke bicause she had seene by experience that the holie maid had often tymes recouered and escaped out of sickenesses that seemed verie grieuous and past all hope of recouerie VVherefore she rather thought that for so long tyme as she had ben occupied about this vision the holie maid had ben after her accustomed maner in some singular traunse or abstractioÌ„ in the which our Lord had shewed vnto her some great and notable reuelations But bicause the mornyng was so farre spent that she stood in doubt of finding anie Masse that daie she supposed that all this vision was none other thing but only some suttle illusion of the deuel to make her to transgresse the commaundement of our holie mother the Church in not hearing Masse on the sondaie Wherefore she hasted her selfe vp and set her pot ouer the fyer and ranne towardes the parish Church saying thus in her hart If I leese Masse this daie I will take all this to be the worke of the ghostlie enemie But if I come in good tyme to heare Masse then will I thinke that our Lord hath shewed these thinges vnto me for my good mother Catherines sake When she came to the Church she found that the gospel was done and the offertorie song Wherof she was verie sorie and said Out vpoÌ„ me wretch the wicked feend hath deceiued me With that she made hast homwardes againe to set her thinges in the kitchen a litle foreward that she migh goe to some other Church and find a whole Masse While she was at home thus occupied she heard a bell ring to Masse in a monasterie of Nunnes not farre from her house which made her a glad woman And so she set her selfe in order againe to goe to Church and for hast lefte her colewortes which stood by her readie piked and wasshed euen as they were and put them not into the pot as she had thought to doe VVhen she came to the Church she found them at the verie begynnyng of Masse wherof she was verie glad and said to her selfe Surely now I see that the deuel hath not deceiued me as I thought he had done But she had great care of the displeasure of her sonnes which were now of good yeares bicause she knewe their dyner was nor readie nor could not be made readie in anie conuenient tyme. Houbeit she committed all to God that she might heare Masse deuoutly beseeching him notwithstanding that if that vision were of him he would so prouide that there might no displeasure or cause of offence rise of the same betwene her her children And with that she set her selfe downe and heard out the whole Masse to the end wheÌ„ Masse was done as she was going homeward her sonnes met with her in the streete said Mother it is very late I praie you let vs goe to diner Tarrie a litle good children said she you shal dyne in good tyme. She went home a pace and found the doore fast locked and the keie within euen as she had lefte it So soone as she was within the house she weÌ„t streight to the kitchin thought to haue gone foreward with the dressing of dyner But when she came in she sawe that all was done to her hand her colewoortes and flesh thoroughly soddeÌ„ al other thinges in such readines that they might goe to the table when they would VVherat she was much astoined and said to her selfe Surely now I see our Lord hath heard my praier And she determined to goe after dyner to the holie maides house whome she thought to be yet aliue in the wordle and to tell her of all the thinges that had chaunced that daie Her sonnes that were not farre from the house she called home and set them to dyner And while they were eating her mynd ranne still vpon the strange vision that she had seene in the mornyng and vpon these wonders that had ensued vpon the same Her sonnes also that knewe nothing of the matter began to commend their meate and said that it was passing well seasoned and had a farre better tast then it was wont to haue Which wordes she put vp in her hart and said to her selfe as she declared afterwardes to Doctour Raimundus O my good mother Catherine it is thou that hast come this mornyng into my house to supplie my rome and office in the kitchen Now I knowe in deed that thou art a holie virgin the true haÌ„d maid of Christ And yet for all this she suspected nothing of the holie maides departure out of this life but so soone as her sonnes had dined she went forthwith to her house as she was wont to doe at other tymes and knocked at the doore but no bodie giue her answere The neighbours told her that of likelihood she was gone out as her maner was to visite some holie place and that there was no bodie at home Which she supposed to be true therfore went her waie Now the truth was that all those that vvere vvithin vvere in great heauines for the losse of their good mother vvhich vvas departed from them and had lefte them as motherles children in this wicked worlde And they did what they could to conceale her death from the people both for the auoiding of that great presse and tumulte which they knewe would be made if her death were once noised and also that they might with the more quietnes conferre with discreete persones concernyng the maner and order of her funerals But howsoeuer they laboured to keepe the matter secret the next daie when her bodie should be caried to the Church of the Fryers preachers commonly called Our ladie ouer Minerua it was knowen all ouer the citie And there was such a concourse of people runnyng and pressing towardes the place where she laie to touch some part either of her bodie or of her garmentes that those of her familie retinue that were there attending vpon the corps were in great feare and danger to haue had both their garmentes torne from their backes and their bodies sore hurt with the violent presse crowd of the vnrulie multitude In so much that they were constreined to remoue the beere from the place where it stood and to set it in S. Dominickes chappel which was well defended with a strong grate of yron While these thinges were in doing Semia came thither by chaunce and seeing such a great concourse of people asked what it meaned They made her answere and said that Catherine of Siena was dead and that her bodie was there caried to the Church to be buried VVhen she heard that she sâ—right pitifully and ranne towardes the place where her corps laie VVhen she came thither and sawe certaine women and sisters of the holie maides familie standing about her bodie she cried out and said O most cruel women whie haue you kept the departure of
more phisicke vnto him When all men had geuen him ouer as a dead man a certaine deuout woman that was about him called Cecola Cartaria made a vowe to the blessed virgin S. Caterine in his behalfe and foorthwith the yong man began to amend and within a verie litle tyme was fully recouered of his disease In like maner a certaine woman called Gilia Petruccies when the phisicions had geuen their diffinitiue sentence that by the course of nature she must needes die made the like vowe to S. Catherine of Siena and with that found present ease of her paine and within a fewe daies after was perfectly restored to her health There was also at this tyme in the citie a certaine noble and deuout woman called Ladie Ione Ilperines which was well acquenited with the holie maide in her life tyme. And therefore seeing the miracles that were wrought after her death she conceiued the greater opinion of holines in her In so much that wheresoeuer she went to visite anie that were sicke and diseased she would alwaies perswade with them that they should commend them selues deuoutly to the holie virgin S. Caterine of Siena By the which meanes she procured the recouerie of a great manie that were sicke of diuerse and sundrie diseases On a tyme it chaunced that one of this ladies owne children sporting and runnyng rechlesly as yong children are wont to doe in an vpper lofte of the house fell downe headlong to the ground in her presence She seeing the sodaine fall of her child whome as a good mother she could not but loue tenderly and considering of the thing as it was like to be in the discourse of man which was that her sonne should either die presently or els at the least be sore crusshed that he should prooue but a criple or wraile all the daies of his life after cried out mightely and said O blessed S. Caterine of Siena I commend my child to thee It is a wonderful matter to consider that though the height and other condicions of the place from whence the child fell were such that in reason they might hope of none other but only present death yet when they came to take vp the child they found that he had no maner of harme in anie part of his bodie but was fully in as good case and liking after that great fall as he was before When the mother sawe that she gaue most humble thankes to almightie God and to his deere spowse S. Caterine and ceased not wheresoeuer she came to set out her holines and vertues to the vttermost of her power There was also a poore woman in the citie called good Ione which being a common landresse gate a poore liuing by seruing of others specially by washing of clothes This Ione wasshing on a tyme by the riuers side called Tiber happened emong other clothes to wash a quilte of the which one part was in the riuer and the other vnder her hand in washing But that part the swame in the riuer being heauier then the other of a sodaine drewe that part that was in wasshing from vnder her and so the whole was caried away with the swaie of the streame Whē the poore womā sawe the quilt gone knewe that if it were lost she was neuer able to paie for it hauing a greater care to recouer the quilt then to saue her selfe she reached so farre after it that she fell into the water also and was caried likewise a good waie from the land Being there in great distresse and destitute of all mans helpe it came to her mynd what great miracles were wrought at that time in the citie by the holie maid Wherupon she cried out said O blessed virgin S. Catherine of Siena helpe me now in this great need She had no sooner spoken those wordes but that foorthwith she was holpen vp by the almightie hand of God and brought against the course of the streame and set with the quilt in her hand vpon the bancke without anie helpe of man When she sawe her selfe there and could not imagin how she came thither she thāked God with all her hart and ascribed the benefite of her escaping from that present danger as it was in deed to the merites of B. S. Caterine Not long after the death of the holy maid doct Raimund being made the general ouer his whole order came to Rome as his charge required And being there translated the holie bodie of S. Caterine vpon that verie daie that she had prophecied that it should be done manie yeares before By trauailing wherin in other affaires apperteining to his office his bodie was distēpered in such sort that he had need to haue the aduise of some learned phisicion Wherupon he sent for one that dwelt ther by not farre from the monasterie called maister Iames of our Ladie the round which coming one time to visite doct Raimundus talking of the holy maid told him of a very strāge thing that had chaūced in his oune knouledge to a certaine yong man called Colas of Ciuccio This Colas lay sick in his father in lawes house whose name was Cincius Tancancim of a verie grieuous disease in his throte called the Squinancie Which increased so mightely vpon him that the phisiciōs gaue him ouer said plainely that by the course of nature he must needes die that within a verie fewe houers when the yōg mā was euen at the point of death Alexia hearing of it who loued Cincius wel bicause he was a deuout man and bare a singular affection to the holie maid in her life tyme went to the house in great hast and tooke with her a tooth of the holie maid which she kept as a great relike and iewel And when she came sawe the yong mā as it were vpon passing out of this wordle by reason that the aposteme had streightened his throte so much that he was euen at the point of choking she put the said tooth to his throte And foorthwith the aposteme brake and he lifted vp his head and auoided a great quantitie of rotten matter out at his mouth And within a very litle tyme he recouered perfectly gaue most hūble thākes to almighty God to his glorious spouse S. Caterine by the vertue of whose tooth he confessed in al companies in all places wheresoeuer he came that he had ben deliuered euen from present death In so much that one tyme when doctour Raimundus had made a sermon in the cōmendation of the holy maid had emong other thinges touched this present miracle the yong man being there at that tyme by chance stood vp befor al the people said these wordes It is true that yee saie maister doctour for I am the man vpon whom this great miracle was wrought At what tyme queene Ione of Sicilia sent Rainald of Vrsine with a great companie of men of armes against Pope Vrbane the sixt with purpose either to expell him out of